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How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 26 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 309 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Interscope
Release Date: 23 November 2004
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Alternative, Rock
Summary
The band's first new album since 2000, a more stripped-down, "classic U2" disc than previous efforts, was recorded chiefly with producer Steve Lillywhite, with Chris Thomas and Nellee Hooper also helming some tracks.
Also By This Artist: All That You Can't Leave Behind No Line On The Horizon
Also On The Web: Official Artist Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
E! Online
A slower album than most, Bomb eventually reveals itself as a work of genius, wrapping religion, love and life into emotionally thrilling gifts.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times
[Bono] explores epic themes, from faith to family, with such indelible grace that the CD stands with "The Joshua Tree" and "Achtung Baby" as one of the Irish quartet's essential works. [21 Nov 2004]
Read Full Review >New Musical Express
Bono's genius is that his inner monologue is so huge and heroic that it matches the scale of the music. And, even more so than on 'All That You Can't Leave Behind,' the music is enormous. [13 Nov 2004, p.55]
Billboard
The sound is bigger, the playing better, the lyrics sharper and the spirituality more compelling than anything the act has done in many years.
Read Full Review >ShakingThrough.net
Atomic Bomb is a reduction of U2's most definable characteristics into a very basic formula: impassioned vocals lent extra gravity by Bono's wavering voice; guitars that chime like bells; thick, meaty rhythm section workouts; slowly seductive hooks that build to triumphant, emotional, endorphin-releasing choruses. And on that level, it succeeds admirably.
Read Full Review >Filter
So here we have another U2 album that's just as good as the last one. In fact, it's really good. [#13, p.88]
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Yet in spite of the odds, How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb finds U2 sounding just as passionate as it did on 1980's Boy, and just as committed to converting that passion into sprawling pop songs about God, love, and the world's injustices.
Read Full Review >Uncut
Even at their most glibly bombastic, there's a melancholy undertow that they can't shake. [Album of the Month, Dec 2004, p.136]
Mojo
This is a very traditional U2 album, the sort of album people want U2 to make. [Dec 2004, p.96]
Q Magazine
With their 11th studio album, they've succeeded in not becoming crap quite admirably. [Dec 2004, p.126]
Drowned In Sound
Simply, it’s back to what it was all about in the first place; writing cracking tunes and just being boys in a band.
Read Full Review >The Guardian
How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb may be unadventurous and melodramatic, but it is packed with disarming moments.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone
This is grandiose music from grandiose men, sweatlessly confident in the execution of their duties.
Read Full Review >All Music Guide
The record does sound good when it's playing, but [its] conservatism is what keeps HTDAAB earthbound and prevents it from standing alongside War, The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby as one of the group's finest efforts.
Read Full Review >Blender
It nearly always feels fresh, the way a new flame does. [Dec 2004, p.132]
Entertainment Weekly
From the arrangements to the inevitable crashing-wave crescendos, echoes of "I Will Follow" and "New Year's Day" rumble through the songs. [26 Nov 2004, p.115]
cokemachineglow
Compared to All That You Can’t Leave Behind, it’s immensely sincere, well-thought out, and meaningful... [It] also happens to be loaded with hooks.
Read Full Review >PopMatters
It's neither aggressive nor retro, and U2 sounds better for moving forward, even if they seem increasingly diluted in delivery at times.
Read Full Review >Delusions of Adequacy
While the rest of the album fails to live up to the breadth of “City” and “Crumbs,” and while it takes serious missteps on the shockingly bad “Man and a Woman” and “Yahweh,” this is, by and large, an album to be thankful for, regardless of your demographic.
Read Full Review >Pitchfork
Brash, grungy, and loud... a tiny handful of outstanding tracks and a whole mess of schmaltzy filler.
Read Full Review >Stylus Magazine
A one-paced affair, enamoured with drawn-out ambient intros, crystalline guitars layered with reverb, four-note rumbles for basslines, choruses that go on forever and occasional, half-hearted stabs at “groove”. Meaning that it sounds EXACTLY as you would expect U2 to sound.
Read Full Review >Trouser Press
The harder U2 tries to rock out with wild abandon here, the less spontaneous they end up sounding, making How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb more like an incredible simulation of a punk-influenced album rather than an actual punk-influenced album.
Read Full Review >Village Voice
This time, Steve Lillywhite and the other producers assembled simply construct a U2 album in miniature, mixing in the Edge's processed-guitar trademark whenever you fear they're straying into unforgivable un-U2ness. That's just not enough.
Read Full Review >Dot Music
Mostly this is U2 trying too hard, caring too much, being too insufferably genuine without having anything to be particularly genuine about.
Read Full Review >Drawer B
Suffers from too much open-faced honesty and a serious lack of intensity.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 6.9 (out of 10) based on 309 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Ariston B gave it a3:
The worst album of U2. They could tour without this crap. Maybe 3 songs worth listening. New low.
John K gave it a0:
I love U2. I hate this album. I even liked Pop and I hate this album. The difference? The lyrics all the way. Pop had interesting lyrics, this has boring, straightforward and unpoetic. It's a terrible, terrible album.
Jalex D gave it a10:
A stellar collection of songs, even if it doesn't gel as nicely as nearly all their other albums. Still it stands as a peak for one of the world's greatest artists ever, as well as being the best album of 2004.
Alec F gave it a10:
Just another U2 album. Of course, that mean's it's amazing. The ethereal, catchy melodies are really great in basically every song. Reviewers are judging the album not by how it sounds but as fans of U2's old stuff. Forget the band's identity and prior music and just focus on each track, and you'll see what I mean. Also, I disagree that the album ends badly. Original of the Species, the second to last track, is one of my favorite U2 songs. So, in all I think this is a completely brilliant album when you listen to it as music, not as U2 songs.
The Dude gave it a10:
Amazing album. Great songs and melodies right throughout.
Fabiano S. gave it a9:
Good album.
Jonny F gave it a9:
Brilliant album but not as gd as ATYCLB, Achtung Baby or the Joshua tree. however still a great piece of work.
